Coarticulation of Upper Lip Protrusion in French

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the temporal organization of upper lip protrusion in French. A photocell was used to transduce upper lip movement into a recordable electrical signal. The utterances under study were recorded by six native speakers of French. Three aspects of the protrusion gesture are examined: extent of protrusion, velocity, and transition time. Results indicate differences between these three measures for the production of /u/ as compared to /y/ as well as differences when upper lip movement is directed away from its target protrusion position as compared to when it is directed toward its target protrusion position. This study also includes an attempt to determine onset of protrusion in a consonant cluster followed by a rounded vowel. Results show that the protrusion movement due to the rounding of the second vowel of a group –VCC ... CV– starts as early as the first consonant of a cluster of 4–6 consonants. In some cases, it even starts during the vowel preceding the cluster. These results do not support Kozhevnikov and Chistovich’s model of a CC ... CV-type syllable. On the other hand, they are compatible with Henke’s articulatory model of speech production.